I am having a TOUGH TOUGH time starting induction. My addiction to sweets/carbs is really over-ruling my attempts to be successful, even just for one day. This has gone on for the past 5 years.
My question - Do any of you have success weaning off the carbs, or did you have more success going coldturkey?

I find that if I am very deeply into the carb addiction, going cold turkey is best. Any attempts to wean myself turn out to be rationalizations to keep eating carbs and I never successfully get into ketosis or complete induction.

In the past I have planned to consume large amounts of food to see me through the first couple of days until I hit ketosis and my appetite and cravings are more manageable. I eat until I am very full, not overly stuffed. And the minute I have a craving or feel hungry, I do so again. Usually bacon, hamburger, mayo/mustard, a couple olives, a pickle. A huge omelet or scrambled eggs and ham for breakfast. I keep precooked chicken breast cut into strips in the fridge to dip in blue cheese dressing, as well as tuna salad with celery and a little green onion mixed into it with a couple of pork rinds for crunch. This way I can EAT if I at all feel hungry or feel a craving. For the sweet cravings, I make several flavors of Jello and *cheat* with cans of whip cream(i know it has sugar but easier and the easier the better sometimes for me) I eat the jello with a little poof of whip cream.
Then after my appetite diminishes I can eat more 'normal' amounts.

Last fall when I came back to Atkins after 2 years off, this worked REALLY well for me. I was having reactive hypoglycemia and within 1-2 hours of eating I would start craving food as my blood sugar dropped too low. The second day I ate over a pound of ground beef in the form of hamburger patties. By the end of the third day my appetite diminished, and the morning of the fourth I was in Ketosis and very little appetite.

I know that the carbohydrate addicts lifespan program, has a week long program to get you weaned off of carbs. It never worked for me, but if you are interested I can look up the general guidelines and let you know what they are.

When I slip and eat a lot of carbs, for a long enough time that the cravings begin again (like over the holidays), it is just easier to go cold turkey.

That being said, when I was first learning about lower-carb eating, I eased into it by using the Insulin Resistant Diet framework, which can be low- to moderate-carb. I began by limiting carbs to 30 per meal and 15 per snack, so I could eat up to 135 or so a day. That was still much lower than I HAD been eating! Then I found that my BG worked better on very low carbs in the morning. And then I lowered the lunch/dinner carbs, too. So I eased into it at first.

But now, if I fall off the wagon, I want to jump-start back to the no-craving/no-hunger nirvana of low-carb as fast as I can, so I go cold turkey.

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What shall we do for this meal, Mr. Banting?
The same thing we do every meal... Try to take over the world!

School Pysch
Have a day when you have the things you CAN NOT DO WITH OUT ( snicker bars for me ) really treat yourself the next day GO COLD TURKEY.
Do not try to go for low carb substitutes ( hankering after what you now can't have ) try to find new treats-for me Parmesan and salami crisps.
I prefer the Atkins 72 as it works better for me. Lots of the low carb recipes are family friendly which helps so much- you have more of the protein/fat etc and none of the potatoes etc.
If you "wean" you will still have cravings and they are unlikely to be they low carb foods!!
Atkins states the smallest amount of "sugar" (form any source rice-fruitetc) will release insulin so Induction will not be happening.
Keep it up-I have to be iron willed for 1slip and then it is " Oh just a wee bit"-then I want fruit-then i realise i can't stop!

I weaned slowly over a few years, first cutting out sugar, then processed foods, then reduced my carbs below 100g/day and then down to 20g to 25g. Weaning was easier (I think) from an addiction point of view, I really don't have any interest in eating any high carb foods anymore. However, the fat adaption was more of a struggle because I tried to become fat adapted by just going below 50g/day. And also the protein was an issue, because my body seems to be good at converting protein to glucose for a fuel source. If I had gone into induction, I wouldn't have struggled with stalls, unexplained hypoglycemia, hunger and carb cravings. These things making the process more unpleasant.

Having said that though, induction can be quite harsh when you go cold turkey, I didn't experience the type of illness other people have experienced, but the first two months of trying to become fat adapted and losing was much harder, not starting at induction. If I had to do it again, I think I would go straight into induction because I think once you are past those first two weeks, it is much easier than the way I did it.

When I first started a couple of years ago I tried to go cold turkey. I got very sick. I passed out, couldn't speak. My blood sugar dropped too quickly and it was dangerous. So I weaned. For 2 days I ate NO carbs until after noon. The next 2 days I ate NO carbs until after 2. Then I went 3 days with NO carbs until after 6PM. Then NO carbs until after 9PM. Then no carbs for a week. Then started induction. It took longer to get into ketosis but I was eating so many carbs a day before starting that it was just too much for my body to go cold turkey. I did lose a few pounds while weaning.

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Heather
Miles walked in December: 70
Goal is 70
January 71, February 76,
March 86.45, April 78.06,
May 86, June 60, July 35,
August 21.50, September 78.36,
October 71, November 72

When I first started a couple of years ago I tried to go cold turkey. I got very sick. I passed out, couldn't speak. My blood sugar dropped too quickly and it was dangerous. So I weaned. For 2 days I ate NO carbs until after noon. The next 2 days I ate NO carbs until after 2. Then I went 3 days with NO carbs until after 6PM. Then NO carbs until after 9PM. Then no carbs for a week. Then started induction. It took longer to get into ketosis but I was eating so many carbs a day before starting that it was just too much for my body to go cold turkey. I did lose a few pounds while weaning.

It sounds like you followed a very smart plan! Some folks can just stop, and soldier through the "low-carb flu" that comes after. Others find that weaning over a week or so sets them up for better success when they finally go fully low-carb.

How many times have I heard of people who start low-carb, feel bad after a week, and stop because "the diet obviously isn't suited to them!"? I'd rather have them wean down a while before dropping to induction levels, and have them succeed through induction.

But for many of us who have gone through it before, and know the "flu" goes away quickly, it's fine to jump right in the deep end. We know the shock of the cold water will dissipate quickly.

__________________
What shall we do for this meal, Mr. Banting?
The same thing we do every meal... Try to take over the world!

I'm back to doing actual low-carb after a long time of not doing it / doing very-Modified low-carb. I actually didn't plan to go LC, but just kinda slipped into it. (A variation of Heheher's approach).

I started doing 16-8 intermittent fasting (eating whatever I wanted, but only within an 8-hour window). Then tried to shrink it a 5-hour eating window. Intermittent Fasting works by increasing the daily time-period during which your body naturally runs on ketone instead of glucose.

I had trouble sticking to the 5-hour plan, so I started being careful with the carbs. I meant to only be a little-bit-careful, but when I decided to cook two steaks (in case I got hungry later), I found I slipped right into induction-level Low-Carb with no problem. Apparently the partial-day fasting had prepared my body to burn ketones without complaint.

That was not very long ago, but it seems like it worked well. As of now, my plan to deal with any future slip-ups will be to follow this method again. So at some point (hopefully not too soon!) I'll find out whether it's gonna work every time, or whether intermittent fasting was just a one-time-only free pass into induction.

I went cold turkey. One day I was eating plenty of starchy, sugary carbs... the next I cut them all out. I think the hardest thing with weaning (or whenever I think about adding something back in once I'm in maintenance) is that if you're truly addicted to the carbs and you have a hard time controlling yourself with certain foods... that's really going to be a trying experience limiting yourself to one tiny portion, or trying to cut down gradually.

That's how a lot of people fall off the wagon I think. I see it all the time on here. They think they can control themselves, and suddenly one cookie becomes two which becomes three and all of a sudden half the pack is gone. I know I'd definitely be that way with a couple foods if I brought them back into my life!

If you have that addiction, I'd strongly suggest going cold turkey if you can. If you can't handle that, maybe you could check out Netrition and see if they have any healthier sugary tasting alternatives that are lower carb in the meantime while you wean? That way you'll still be getting the satisfaction of the sugary items, but you won't be taking in as many carbs while you're trying to cut them out of your life